Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles Private Sale

When you’re searching for a wheelchair accessible vehicle to buy – one of the first questions you may ask yourself is whether you should buy from a dealer (like us!) or from a private seller either from a classified ad, Gumtree or eBay.

Is it better to buy a WAV privately or from a dealer?

This choice isn’t just limited to car buyers it applies to WAV buyers too and in many respects is a more important choice for them to make. Let’s be honest we could spend the entire article singing the praises of dealers… but that’s not our style. We’ll keep this article brief and just give you some key information so you can make an informed choice.

There are a number of important factors when deciding to buy privately or from a dealer – the one which can be the most compelling factor is the cost. Without a doubt, buying privately (in most cases) means you can get the same/similar vehicle for a cheaper price.

However, and this is key, a cheaper price doesn’t always mean the best value and over the lifetime of the vehicle (depending on your useage/needs) it could potentially work out more expensive.

Things to bear in mind…

While a WAV is effectively a car – the modifications can mean that a standard garage may not be able to repair the vehicle as easily as they can your neighbours Honda Civic. Mostwheelchair accessible conversions use modified fuel tanks, exhausts and even non-standard seats configurations. Then there are the overt modifications like the ramp, winch and tailgate.

Buying from a dealer gives you three huge benefits over buying privately including a warranty (the warranty from WavsGB is 12 months – other dealers may vary), HPI Checks (important to show you the history of a vehicle – has it been involved in a crash previously) and vehicles which are serviced and MOT’d before you take delivery.

When dealers provide these additional benefits they have a cost involved – and are one of the reasons buying from a dealer can be more expensive in the short term – we think it adds extra value and peace of mind but ultimately thats for you to decide.

Pros and Cons